Cornice Press Release

Cornice Introduces Ultra-Thin 8GB and 10GB Micro Hard Drive; Enables Smaller and Thinner Consumer Electronics Devices

LONGMONT, Colo.—(Business Wire)—Jan. 2, 2006 Small Form Factor Storage Innovator Launches Its First Two-Headed Storage Product and Decreases Its Size by 40 Percent

Cornice Inc.—an innovator in consumer storage solutions—today announced the expansion of its storage offerings with the addition of an ultra thin, high-capacity personal storage device. The Cornice Dragon series micro hard drives, available in 8- and 10-gigabytes, will allow OEMs to offer thinner and higher-capacity consumer electronics (CE) devices while featuring industry-leading robustness, durability, and low power requirements for everyday consumer use. Audio/video players, mobile phones and personal storage devices will all be enhanced by the Dragon series micro hard drive.

CameraBright Press Release

CameraBright Introduces Two New Products that Address the Growing Digital SLR Camera and High-End Camcorder Markets

The Extended Range Plus CameraBright! TM ER+ light Delivers Durability for Digital SLR or Camcorder users, while the HS1 Hotshoe Mount Adds Versatility for Connecting any CameraBright! TM Light to a universal shoe mount.

CameraBright, Inc. expands its product line of the world’s only consumer-based photographic lighting accessory product line by introducing two new products, the CameraBright! X1-ER Plus lighting accessory with durable metal threads for heavier use applications and the HS1 universal camera shoe adapter for connecting any of the available CameraBright! lighting accessories to a digital SLR camera or camcorder shoe mount. CameraBright! X1 lighting accessories connect to virtually any digital camera or camcorder to allow users to capture better pictures and videos in low and no light situations.

Pacific Digital Press Release

PACIFIC DIGITAL® AND MICROSOFT® COLLABORATE ON INTERGRATING WINDOWS VISTA TECHNOLOGIES WITH DIGITAL PICTURE FRAMES

Pacific Digital ® announces collaboration with Microsoft® in integrating new multimedia features of Microsoft’s Windows Vista with the MemoryFrame line of Digital Photo Frames.

LAS VEGAS, NV – January 1, 2006 – Pacific Digital Corporation is working with Microsoft to integrate the next generation MemoryFrame family of digital picture frames with enhanced features built into the upcoming Microsoft Windows Vista release. Pacific Digital will be demonstrating Microsoft Windows Vista at it’s booth at CES.

Digital Picture Frames are quickly becoming a standard part of the home, displaying digital photos and other content as an “electronic scrapbook”. The MemoryFrame will be able use the features of Windows Vista to further integrate digital picture frames into the home experience by supporting Windows Vista capabilities such as Windows Media Connect, Windows Connect Now and RSS Feeds.

Lexar Press Release

Lexar Increases Performance of Platinum Memory Card Line; Faster Platinum II Cards Ideal for Rapid Fire Shooting and Full Motion Video

LAS VEGAS—(Business Wire)—Jan. 3, 2006 Lexar Media, Inc. (Nasdaq:LEXR), a world leader in advanced digital media technologies, will showcase its new Platinum II offering, an enhanced version of the company’s Platinum line of flash memory cards, at the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Lexar’s new Platinum II memory cards provide photographers with performance levels capable of sustained rapid-fire shooting and full motion video, two of the most popular and sought after features in digital cameras. The Platinum II CompactFlash memory card is speed-rated at 80X, capable of a minimum sustained write speed of 12MBs per second, while the Platinum II Secure Digital memory card is speed-rated at 60X, capable of a minimum sustained write speed of 9MBs per second. The Platinum II line also includes popular Memory Stick Pro and Memory Stick Pro Duo flash memory cards.

Lexar Press Release

Lexar Adds Corel Corporation’s Digital Imaging Software to Line of Flash Memory Cards; Award-Winning Paint Shop(TM) Family Software to Enhance Value of Lexar Memory Cards

LAS VEGAS—(Business Wire)—Jan. 3, 2006 Lexar Media, Inc. (Nasdaq:LEXR), a world leader in advanced digital media technologies, today announced that the company is adding further value to its widely popular lines of flash memory products by including digital imaging software from Corel Corporation—valued at $30 to $100 per application—to select flash memory cards in Lexar’s Professional, Platinum and Value lines. The included software programs are Corel(R) Paint Shop Pro(R) 9, Corel(R) Photo Album(TM) 6 (Standard Edition) and Corel(R) Photo Album(TM) 6 (Starter Edition)—all designed to help photographers of all levels enhance, edit and manage their images.

Lexar Press Release

Lexar Bolsters High-Performance USB Flash Drive Lineup, Offering Exciting New Innovations Beyond Storage; Introducing JumpDrive(R) Mercury, Featuring A New On-Board Capacity Meter

LAS VEGAS—(Business Wire)—Jan. 3, 2006 Lexar Media, Inc. (Nasdaq:LEXR), a leader in advanced digital media and accessories, today introduced new additions to its lineup of high-performance USB flash drives, as well as enhancements to existing products, at the 2006 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Lexar, a full line supplier of flash based technology and solutions, is demonstrating its broadened lineup of JumpDrive(R) products, designed with a wide variety of features and capabilities geared toward different consumer needs and lifestyles.

PCMagazine have reviewed the new Kodak V570 camera that was first announced yesterday.

“For us, the real appeal of this camera is the 23mm wide-angle view. It’s great for capturing landscapes, interior settings, or any picture where you’re fairly close to your subject. Like any wide-angle lens, using this one will distort images. Shooting with the 23mm lens is can be a very cool compositional tool, enabling you to work with interesting distortions or views that you generally get only on an SLR with a wide-angle lens. Just be sure to take some test shots to see what the distortion looks like.”

Website: PCMagazine - Kodak V570 Review

Website: Read my Kodak Easyshare V570 Review

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Photo-i have tested the HP Photosmart 8250 photo printer, which features six individual ink cartridges and can print photos in just 14 seconds.

“When I first saw this printer in July 2005 I was impressed with the overall performance, although I was only using a pre-production model. I ran my photo-i test file through the printer and it produced an excellent print first time. Can this be repeated? In short the answer to this is yes, the A4 test prints colours are every bit as good as any I have seen from other HP printers, but under close magnification the print dot seems to be larger. Having said that, I should point out that you would need a good quality magnifying glass to see the dots, under normal viewing conditions the prints will surpass most wet chemistry photographs.”

Website: Photo-i - HP Photosmart 8250 Review

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DesignTechnica have reviewed the Canon PowerShot S80, an 8 megapixel update of the S70 which offers a 28-100mm f/2.8-5.3 lens, 2.5 inch LCD screen and Canon’s advanced image processor, DIGIC II.

“The 8MP Canon PowerShot S80 is the latest iteration of the company’s “Goldilocks” cameras. It’s not a simple point-and-shoot digicam neither is it as complicated as a D-SLR. It’s supposed to be just right, targeted to the photographer looking for a high-quality camera that’s easy to use but has enough tweaks to keep dial spinners happy. This compact camera is the replacement for the soon-to-be discontinued 7.1MP S70. Among the good features of the S80 are a wide focal length (28mm), higher movie clip quality, a real-time histogram and enough shooting modes to handle almost anything you can throw at it.”

Website: DesignTechnica - Canon PowerShot S80 Review

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Minox Press Release

Entertainment at its best with the MINOX DMP2 - Miniature Media Player Excels in Performance and Design

Really talented performers are rare and therefore much in demand –MINOX GmbH now presents another multi-talent tool in its program - the DMP-2. This versatile, compact media player reveals completely new quality features in image and sound entertainment. The powerful performance of this tiny digital hub is hard to imagine considering its weight and dimensions. The key focus is on the playback and recording of video files in future-pointing, high-resolution MPEG4 format. The DMP-2 also stands out as an excellent portable digital photo album, MP3 Player, FM-Radio und voice recorder. Two folding speakers provide a wider base for the stereo playback and create an absolute highlight in design and sound. This MINOX DMP-2 is simply first-class multimedia enjoyment!

The unique Kodak V570 dual lens camera that PhotographyBLOG first featured back in August last year is to be officially unveiled at CES 2006. The Kodak V570 will be available in January for $399.95 / £299.99.

Kodak Press Release

Kodak Unveils World’s First Dual-Lens Digital Camera; Combines Ultra-Wide Angle and Zoom Lenses in Compact Body

Innovative KODAK EASYSHARE V570 Camera with RETINA Dual Lens Technology Shown First at CES 2006 in Kodak Booth 31400 (LVCC South/3)

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 2—Kicking off this week’s 2006 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Eastman Kodak Company today introduced the world’s first dual-lens digital still camera, the KODAK EASYSHARE V570 zoom digital camera. Using proprietary KODAK RETINA Dual Lens technology, the elegant V570 camera wraps an ultra-wide angle lens (23 mm) and an optical zoom lens (39 – 117 mm) into a small, sleek package less than an inch thin.

Imation Press Release

Imation 4GB Micro Hard Drive: Still Micro on the Outside, More Giga on the Inside - Drive Recognized as CES Innovations Design and Engineering Awards Honoree

OAKDALE, Minn., Dec. 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/—Conveniently carry and share even more high-capacity presentations, graphics, photos, music or e-mails with the award-winning Imation Micro Hard Drive. Imation Corp (NYSE:IMN) announced today that the new 4 gigabyte (GB) drive is now available through Imation authorized distributors and retailers worldwide.

With a unique and stylish padlock design, the durable Imation Micro Hard Drive features a flexible USB connector that locks directly into the drive and can be easily used to clip the storage device to a belt loop, keychain or briefcase. The Imation Micro Hard Drive also encompasses the 2005 Guinness World Records(TM) book smallest hard disk drive, a Toshiba invention measuring less than one inch in diameter—smaller than the size of a quarter—but powerful enough to quickly and easily store 4GB of information.

Bibble Labs Press Release

Bibble Labs releases holiday 4.5 update with support for the Nikon D200 - Includes major improvement to Canon .CR2 Color.

Austin Texas (December 23rd, 2005) - Bibble Labs today announced availability of version 4.5 of its popular Raw Workflow software. Now supporting close to 70 of the most popular DSLR and prosumer cameras, this update includes support for the eagerly anticipated Nikon D200, as well as the Olympus EVolt E-500, SP310, SP350, Sp500UZ, Pentax *ist DS2 and Sony DSC-R1. Using Bibble’s integrated Photoshop plug-in, users of older versions of Photoshop including 7.0 and CS and Photoshop Elements 2.0 can now open raw images from the latest cameras without having to pay for a costly upgrade.

Fujifilm Europe Press Release

Memory expansion for the FinePix S 3 Pro - 256 MB internal memory for a higher performance continuous shooting function

As of January, Fuji Photo Film (Europe) GmbH is offering a memory expansion for the FinePix S3 Pro, a digital reflex camera for professional use. This will expand the internal memory by 256 MB. For the user this means that more photos can be taken in succession with the continuous shooting function.

Samsung USA Press Release

SECAUCUS, NJ – Known throughout the world as one of the most prestigious distinctions for manufacturers, the iF Product Design Award is presented in recognition of superior product design. Like the IDEA (Industrial Design Excellence Awards) in the United States, the iF awards represent the best product design of Europe. Samsung is proud to announce that it has received the iF Product Design Award for its ultra-compact Digimax i5 digital camera.

Winning products are selected from over 2000 entrants from over 30 countries and are judged on several levels, including design quality, material compatibility, innovation, environmental consideration, convenience, stability and durability. The Digimax i5 was recognized for its design concept, which was ‘plainness,’ emphasizing ‘clean’ and ‘simple.’

Minox Press Release

MINOX DC6211: Quality with performance              

This new ultra-compact 6 megapixel camera is a combination of performance and elegance

High in performance and small in terms of weight and size, with its DC 6211 camera the Wetzlar, Germany based optical specialist MINOX once again ads quality and features to the growing range of compact, flat digital cameras.  Featuring an image resolution of 6.2 million pixels, a 3x optical zoom as well as a generous 2.5 inch polysilicon colour monitor built into the elegant aluminum body, the DC 6211 is a quality camera where design and function are considered key.

Epson have released a firmware update for the 80Gb Epson P-4000 photo viewer.

1. The new firmware provides support for 2GB SD memory cards.

2. Corrects a rotation issue that prevents JPEG images taken on PENTAX *ist D digital cameras from being rotated more than once. The rotation issue may also occur on other digital cameras that store large amounts of data (i.e. image thumbnail and other proprietary information) in the file header, such as the PENTAX *ist DL and Canon EOS 100.

3. When sending a print job with a selected paper size that is not supported by the attached printer, the viewer will prompt the user to select a supported paper size.

4. Fixes an issue that occurs when the total replay time on an ASF movie file is displayed. When the seconds segment is set to zero (:00), the hour segment would be displayed incorrectly. The hour segment now displays correctly.

Website: Epson P-4000 Firmware Update

ePhotoZine have just reviewed the new 10.2 megapixel Nikon D200 digital SLR camera.

“The D200 is not a beefed up entry-level camera, but more of a cut down pro model. The general feel of it gives an instant confidence in its abilities. Not too heavy, but certainly well put together. On un-packing, the battery looks the same as the EN-EL3 of the D70. However, batteries from the D70 will not fit this camera and on closer examination, the supplied EN-EL3e has an extra contact and a different keyway. The newer batteries will, on the other hand, fit the older camera and work!”

Website: ePhotoZine - Nikon D200 Review

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CameraLabs.com have published some sample images taken with the new 10.2 megapixel Nikon D200 digital SLR camera.

“Noise levels on the D200 are very usable up to 800 ISO and slightly better than the D2X, presumably due to the D200’s larger pixel pitch. The results of the Canon 5D and 1Ds Mark II though clearly illustrate the benefit of a larger sensor with a greater pixel pitch. Noise levels are much lower throughout, although especially so at 800 ISO and above.”

Website: CameraLabs.com - Nikon D200 Sample Images

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Photo.net have published their review of the 12.8 megapixel Canon EOS 5D digital SLR.

“The EOS 5D is a good compromise for a sizable number of photographers who want high image quality combined with the ability to shoot wide-angle without resorting to EF-S lenses (in fact you don’t have the option since EF-S lenses won’t mount on the 5d) and who would like the advantages of full frame (e.g. smaller DOF). If you don’t need super high frame rates and don’t need to regularly shoot outdoors in pouring rain, at around $4200 less than it’s nearest full frame competitor (the EOS 1Ds Mk II), it’s a very attractive camera.”

Website: Photo.net - Canon EOS 5D Review

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